Just a little tip for the guys converting thier 95-99 Cavy front to an 03-05 Sunfire...If you're not pulling the parts off a donor car yourself and buying individual pieces from various places like I did, you'll miss this....That little plastic pocket on the core support that is for the bottom tab on the Cavy headlight mounting brackets needs to get eliminated. The 03-05 Sunfire headlights bottom mounting tabs go directly into the core support. I scratched my head for a little while on this one.

Also a recap on bracket part numbers for the 03-05 Sunfire...
for the bumper brackets the part #'s are 22692866 and 22692867
I also found the small fender brackets that attach the front of the fender to the body were different between my 98 Cav and the 03-05 Sunfire.
The Sunfire part numbers are 22569358 and 22569359
Also the hood latch that attaches to the core support for the 03-05 Sunfire, part number is 22710141

For the ones that have'nt yet done this swap or bought any parts I managed to keep the cost of my swap below $500. and that included NEW brackets, NEW headlights and parking lights, and a NEW aftermarket front bumper. It took me almost a year to do it, but then I'm not in a hurry on this car.

That's what I found. But since the fenders are the same from 95-05, they're readily available. Front bumper and hood is another story. I just happened to run across a great deal on here for the bumper. And the hood I found locally through a search on car-part.com with a little very minor damage. Headlights, cheaper and easier to buy them new from 1AAuto.com. Parking lights, eBay. The small stuff like brackets and hood latch, dealership. And yes, it will take some a bit longer, because even what i spent may be too much for them.

i passed up a 03 Fire bumper on eaby last week that was just $150 bucks . and it sucks ass cuz there arent many places u can get that bumper for under 200 bucks. but ive been thinkin about instead of stock id go with the CF hood and then a aftermarket bumper/kit.

Here, I'll help you out Ian...724-336-5755, 724-336-5512.
They do have quite a few Cav's and 'fire's, but they did'nt have any front lights for the 03-05 Sunfire when I called them 2 weeks ago. Prices, it all depends on what you want. IMO, thier prices are just like any other junkyard around here. They really are'nt like the U-Pull-It yard thats in Cleveland, with low pre-set prices on parts, no matter what type of vehicle. They're just one of the few yards left that will let you walk in and pull the part off yourself. For anyone wanting to check out Feezles, call first, make sure they have what you want, and get a price.

Mine do not go directly into the core support. The tabs on mine fit into plastic pieces bolted to the core support.

That is probably so with the OEM lights from GM. Or those plastic pieces that are bolted to the core support are different on the 03-05 Sunfire from the 95-99 Cav. I can't verify that since I could never find used OEM lights or components. GM Parts Direct does'nt show those pieces for the 03-05 'fire, so again, can't verify if they're the same or not. The new aftermarket headlights I purchased from 1AAuto, the bottom tab is too wide to fit into the 95-99 Cav plastic piece that bolts to the firewall. The bottom tab on these lights, look identical on the backside as backside of the plastic piece that bolts to the core support for the OEM lights.

Mine do not go directly into the core support. The tabs on mine fit into plastic pieces bolted to the core support.

That is probably so with the OEM lights from GM. Or those plastic pieces that are bolted to the core support are different on the 03-05 Sunfire from the 95-99 Cav. I can't verify that since I could never find used OEM lights or components. GM Parts Direct does'nt show those pieces for the 03-05 'fire, so again, can't verify if they're the same or not. The new aftermarket headlights I purchased from 1AAuto, the bottom tab is too wide to fit into the 95-99 Cav plastic piece that bolts to the firewall. The bottom tab on these lights, look identical on the backside as backside of the plastic piece that bolts to the core support for the OEM lights.

I am thinking the plastic pieces bolted to the core support are the same for 95-05 Sunfires. The plastic piece on my core support was left there from the 99 front end, and the 03-05 headlights happened to fit in there as well. Maybe the plastic pieces are just different between Cavaliers and Sunfires.

Just a quick question, want to double check before I get started, im buying a 03-05 cavalier, ( used to have a 00 ) and i want to do a 00 headlight conversion, is there anything else im going to need besides the headlight/corner light housings? I know obviously im going to have to do hood and bumper but I just want to know lighthouse conversion wise. any and all help is appreciated! thanks

^no there not.. 00-05 fenders are the same. 03 has a bracket that with the fender to bolt the bumper to just like the 00-02s have a bracket that teh corner lamps clip into and that bracket almost bolts teh fenders and bumper..

You'll need:
Hood
Bumper
Headlights
Corner Lights
Headlight/Corner Bracket
and you will also need the new striker for the 00 hood if your 00 hood doesn't have it already. Now one thing that I am uncertain of is.. the latch mechanism bolted to the radiator shroud. I believe the actual latch is different as well as the striker.. so you would need both the latch and striker for the 00 as well.

now this sounds like such a noob, lol but what is the striker? it sounds fairly simple but lookin at your car manta makes me kinda like the 03-05 lights! John H said I was going to need a support that mounts under the headlight for the type j front end to keep it from flopping around as well?

The striker is the loop bolted on the underside of the hood that locks into the latch bolted to the core support

As for the support under the headlights I do not know what john is talking about other then the plastic crush guard that is attached to the metal rebar, which yes you will want and need. That piece will have to be modified and cut though(to fit with the Type J) to fit but it does make a difference. When I installed the Type J on my buddies 00 we modified it. I got a picture somewhere I'm trying to find

Here it is plastic crush guard after we modified it..
One thing we did that I would try to prevent is, on that crush guard there are 2 smaller "boxes" of the plastic crush guard that hang off that big center piece. We just removed them completely, but if u can just cut the bottom half off those as well if you need to for the support under the headlights, most likely what john was talking about.

Also if your planning on going to the junkyard to grab one, They are riveted to the rebar. So be prepared to drill out rivets. If you find a good condition rebar you could buy the whole rebar/crush guard assembly and that way you wouldn't have to worry about how to remount the crush guard to your rebar. That's what we did on my buddy Ben's when we did his like 2yrs ago. Could make cutting a tad more difficult but worth it in the end. We used a little electrical chain saw to cut his(hence the raggedy cut) but a sawz-all or anything of the like would work good as well too.

Oh and make sure, Before you install the bumper you take some black aerosol and paint the rebar so it doesn't show through the mouth or mesh as easy of the bumper. Looks cleaner that way

he can just get the crash bar from an 03 cuz the crash foam that they have isnts attached to the crash bar , plus the 03 headlights really dont have any supports, just the to bolt down tabs and a clip for the rad support.

thats probably what ill be ending up doing for a bit. I still owe to much on the SC cobalt to get rid of the bitch yet, but Ill probably end up buying a cavalier outright in january february ish then somehow get rid of the balt.

Hi guys.. im planning to swap my front end Sunfire 1996 for a 2003+ one. My question is do the foam part under the bumper is the same for both models or do I have to buy a new one? Ive seen no reply about this...